Sharks’ GM forecasts Joe Thornton’s chances of returning this season

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San Jose Sharks’ Joe Thornton (19) battles for the puck against the Winnipeg Jets in the third period of their NHL game at SAP Center in San Jose, California, on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Doug Wilson expects Joe Thornton to rejoin the Sharks this season. He’s just hesitant to pencil in a timeframe for the alternate captain’s return because he’s notorious for pushing the boundaries of human recovery.

Four weeks after Wilson said that Thornton would be out for “several weeks” with a right-knee injury requiring surgery to repair damage to his medial collateral ligament, the Sharks general manager provided an optimistic forecast on the likelihood that the 38-year-old forward will return this season.

“Do I expect him back? Yes,” Wilson said. “You should never close the door on Jumbo. He’s working hard. He knows his body better than anybody and he knows the phases that he went through last year.”

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Wilson isn’t just spouting blind optimism. His prognosis is being fueled by the timeline that Thornton is setting for himself. If everything goes according to plan, Thornton will be back on the ice in the near future.

“He’s planning on being back skating in the next couple of weeks and we’ll go from there,” Wilson said. “I’ve never seen anybody put that type of work and focus into rehab just because of his love of the game.”

The Sharks are facing criticism in some quarters for failing to provide a specific timeline for Thornton’s recovery. Wilson, however, insists that the organization isn’t being intentionally misleading. Setting a timetable for Thornton is challenging because the future Hall of Famer has already defied medical norms twice in the last calendar year.

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After tearing two ligaments in his left knee on April 2, 2017, Thornton returned to the ice and suited for four Stanley Cup playoff games just two weeks later. Then, he skated with the Sharks on the first day of training camp in the fall less than five months after undergoing surgery to repair the damage to his knee.

Around Thanksgiving, Thornton’s game started rounding back into form. He recorded 26 points in his last 28 games before he suffered another major-knee injury when Mikkel Boedker fell on his right leg on Jan. 23.

“You can never doubt Joe,” Wilson said. “We purposely haven’t given a timeline because he’s just a unique individual. You’ve seen what he’s done before.”

Although he’s been sidelined for four weeks, Thornton still ranks fourth on the Sharks in scoring with 36 points. The team, meanwhile, is finding a way to survive in his absence, producing a 7-5-1 record while holding a three-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks for second place in the Pacific Division.